Method of making athletic or undershirts



March 18, 1947. R '2,417,628

METHOD OF MAKING ATHLETIC OR UNDERSHIRTS Filed Dec. 27, 1944 Fredrick 'e]: ,Br/J'Ajen i %%M i Patented Mar. 18, 1947 I 1' 1;

UNITED" STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF MAKING ATHLETIC OR UNDERSHIRTS Fredrick J Brisker, Ghattanooga, Tenn.

,Applijcatien BecemberZ'l, 1944, Serial'No. 569,988

(or. z -iisi 1 Claim. ,1

This inventionrelates to athletic and undershirts-and the like, and has to dowith the manner of cutting blanks from the regular flat tubu-- lar strips of material.

In the usual commercial procedure in the manufacture ofgarments of the above noted character, the process of cutting out armhole and neck pieces is carried out in such a way that only alternate blanks as out are readyfor the sewing room; the several'other blanks having to be recut individually and separately to produce the required elongation of the neck opening for the front of the shirt This procedurenot only entails the additional timeand expense of producing the properly formed blank forfithesewing room'but it is also economically disadvantageous in that there isvan undue wastage of small pieces of material that cannot be salvaged profitably.

The prime object of the present invention is to cut out successive parts of the elongated or continuous strip of material in flat tubular form so that each and all of the blanks which are cut in pairs are substantially alike in form and ready for thesewing room without any further cutting operation as to-the neck or armholes, and also to reduce to a minimum the small pieces of waste material and to procure major cutout pieces of comparatively large size, which latter are salvageablefor many uses and resalable at a substantial pricefar in excess of that attainable for the smaller pieces of waste material.

Other particular objects to be attained will hereinafter more fully appear in the following description.

An illustrative but non-limiting adaptation of the-invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

of flat tubular material illustrating the manner of cutting out the pieces'to provide armhole and neck: hole openings in. thev blanks;

Figure 2 is a plan view of one of the blanks as cut from the strip in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a similar view of the complemental or companion blank cut from the strip;

Figured is a-plan view of one of the blanks refolded and flattened in the form for completionof the shirt; and

Figurefi is asimilar view of the completed shirt.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, and more particularly to Figure 1, numeral l designates, generally, a strip of flat tubular material, either knitted or woven, from which the shirt blanks are to be out. It is here noted that in the manufacture of athletic and undershirts and I the like in quantity production; the. respective,

shirt blanks are cut from a pile of elongated or continuous strips of material, at one and the same time; In the blanking operation, the pile offabric is cut through from top to bottom by a conventional cloth cutting machine, and along common lines throughout the pilecoincident with.

lines oftravel indicated on the top of the topmost strip of material following the marginal lines of openings suchas the armhole and neck hole openings. It is the particular purpose and design of this cutting procedure which constitutes thepresent invention. 7

As indicated in Figure 1, corresponding cut but in reverse order, are made across the strip of material I from opposite sides thereof, the line of cutting being with compound curvature and substantial elongation, in part, and with slight angular deviation and smaller extent of curvature in other parts. The two lines of cutting are designated, generally, by the reference numerals i and 2, respectively. The line 2 starts from the point 3 atone margin of the strip l and the other line 2' from a corresponding point 3- at the opposite-margin of the strip, said starting points 3 and 3 being ofiset apart out of exact transverse alignment with each other. Each of the lines 2 and 2' continue with substantial elongation to approximately the place where it changes direction with sharper curvature, as at- 4, 4', whence it again travels with slight curvature but elongation reversely to the initial direction just above described, to the points 5 or 5', as-the case may be, where theline turns abruptly at an angle, as at 6 or 6, and terminates in intersecting relation to the opposite line 2 or 2, as the case may be. In other Words, cuts are made into the strip of material along two oppositely opposed smooth curves from the opposite sides of the strip, the bottom of each curve being substantially along the longitudinal center line of the strip and terminating at a point spaced from the opposite side of the strip, such cuts forming the edges of the front neck portion of the one blank and the arm hole opening of the other blank and simultaneously therewith forming the upper portions of. said edges. Next, cuts from the ends of each of the previously made cuts along a substantially transverse line to the opposite cuts are made.

The strips of fabric I are further out inwardly and longitudinally from each longitudinal edge, in opposite directions and then straightwise toward the longitudinal center of the strip for a short distance so as to intersect the adjacent beginning portions of the aforesaid lines of cutting 2 and 2', respectively, as at I, thus producing removable segments II] of the fabric and providing the neck opening portions (front and back) of the shirt. Thus, the cuts inwardly from the opposite edges of the strip of material form the rear neck opening and the tops of the rear shoulder straps.

With the severance of the strip or pile of strips I along the transverse lines I and I in addition to the just above severance along the lines of compound curvature and elongation, produces a pair of like shirt blanks 8 and 8', the only difference being that the one blank 8 is in a reverse relation to the other blank 8' as to the ultimate front and back portions of the shirt which are brought into matching form by refolding the blanks along median longitudinal lines, as will be presently more fully described.

By the above described manner of cutting the pile of strips I substantially along the lines indicated to provide armhole and neck openings for the garment, an elliptical piece of fabric 9, of relatively large size for salvaging and use, is produced. It is here noted that the cutout piece 9 is formed with its longer axis substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the strip of fabric I or it may be at a slightly oblique angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the strip I. It is here noted that inasmuch as the pile of fabric is cut through from top to bottom thereof, there is one of these pieces 9 taken from each layer of fabric, that is to say, there are two of the pieces 9 to each flat tubular strip I. In other words, each tubular strip I comprises two layers of the pile of fabric. These relatively large cutout pieces 9 have a substantial commercial value and are disposable at a fairly large price. The smaller pieces I0 taken from the marginal portions of the strips I are folded double along the marginal portions of the strips I and, of course, are of double thickness, or in other words, folded in-half, and the same are of lesser commercial value than the larger pieces 9, but as to this, it is here stressed that there is a great minimization in the size and number of smaller pieces of waste material produced in the cutting of the shirt blanks.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that both of the pair of blanks 8, 8, as cut from the pile of strips I, are substantially identical with each other and ready for the sewing room. That is to say, there is no further cutting operations necessary for the formation of a garment of the character of an athletic or undershirt or the like, as all that has to be done prior to sewing and finishing the upper part of the garment is to refold the blank along the longitudinal lines II indicated in Figures 2 and 3, which brings the blank into the form and arrangement illustrated in Figure 4 wherein the front of the shirt I2 is directly in view. That is to say, the elongated cutout part I3 for the front of the neck opening is to the front in the illustration, and the smaller cutout portion I I for the rear of the neck opening is at the rear of the shirt. The elongated cutout portions I5 for the armholes are in cooperative registration, as shown in Figure 4, and all that remains to be done is to join the meeting ends of the shoulder strap portions I6 and I1 and hem or otherwise suitably finish the edge portions of the armhole and neck openings. The finished shirt is illustrated in Figure 5 in conventional form, wherein the shoulder straps I6 and H are joined together, as at I8, and the edge portions of the shirt around the arm and neck holes are hemmed or finished, as at I9.

While the shirt illustrated in Figure 5 is of the usual or ordinary slip-over type, with straight bottom hemmed or otherwise finished portion 20, it is here noted that the invention is equally applicable to other types of garments, such as for instance, a union suit type of garment having either short or relatively long leg portions and open or closed crotch, as the case may be, with either closed body front with front fly covered opening near the crotch or with continuous open front from neck to crotch and provided with either buttons or slide fasteners or other conventional closure means. It is, of course, understood also that in the conventional closed front type of union suit, the adjoining shoulder straps I6 and I! at one or both sides of the garment may be buttoned or otherwise detachably fastened together.

These particular features, in themselves, not constituting a direct part of the present invention, the same are not illustrated in detail in the drawings.

The illustrated exemplification of the invention is but one practical adaptation and the same, obviously, permits of considerable modification and change within the spirit and scope of the appended claim. The invention, therefore, is not limited to the specific construction and arrangement shown.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

The method of making a sleeveless garment from an elongated strip of tubular material which consists in cutting into said strip along two oppositely opposed smooth curves from the opposite sides of the strip, the bottom of each curve being substantially along the longitudinal center line of the strip and terminating at a point spaced from the opposite side of the strip, said cutting forming the edges of the front neck opening of the one blank and the arm hole opening of the other blank and simultaneously forming the upper portions of said edges, cutting from the ends of each of said cuts along a substantially transverse line to the opposite cuts, cutting inwardly from the opposite edges of said strip to form the rear neck opening and the tops of the rear shoulder straps, and attaching the tops of the shoulder r straps of each of said blanks together to thereby form garments having neck and arm hole openings interconnected by shoulder straps.

FREDRICK J. BRISKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Duisdieker Feb. 28, 

